Lives are like wisps of smoke in the sky.

They dance and twist, and in a moment, gone.

Once they vanish, all one can do is cry,

And flail about and deny and groan.

The bud ends and the smoke dies.

The person sighs and their lives move on.

Whether one takes another, is up to them and their sighs,

But don't come crying when you get cancer, because you couldn't move on.

-noelicoan

"Hello Ace. Sorry about my tantrum earlier, but when I die, prepare for a whooping because I haven't forgiven you for dying yet." She warned, smiling weakly when she saw his hat and knife.

She took the knife and the belt, touching it fondly, and asked the person hiding behind her to come out.

"So you're Ace's older sister huh?" Marco said, slowly walking up to her. She just nodded, looking back at Ace's grave. "He talked about you a lot you know. Along with his two brothers. How you were always stronger than him, and how he was going to surpass you one day. Think he surpassed you?"

"If that was all it took to keep him alive. For him to keep chasing his dreams. I would be the strongest person on this earth to keep him in this world." Natsuki told him, sitting down in front of Ace. She touched a storage seal on her arm and brought out four red cups along with an expensive bottle of sake. She offered the three cups to Ace and glugged the portion in her own cup.

"That how you became siblings?" Marco asked, without questioning her method of getting the cups and alcohol.

"Nine years. I was only his sister for nine years, but I know, his time had come. Just like everybody else's time comes. I know mine isn't today, and no matter how angry I am at him, I bet he'll somehow be angrier than me if I killed myself today." She laughed and gave herself more of the sake. She offered the rest to Marco, who gladly accepted. "Where's your crew by the way?"

"We decided to disband our group with the promise to meet when in trouble."

"What are you going to do?"

"I dunno. That peaceful life with a family and a wife doesn't sound too bad now." He said fondly.

The rest of the night was spent with Marco and Natsuki drinking and talking about Ace, and for once, Natsuki wished her metabolism wasn't this good at keeping her sober.

She wanted to be drunk. To forget everything. To let everything loose, but Kurama knew better. If he let her be drunk, who knows what'll happen. Probably a few dead men and a couple of island's disappearances.

"Take it." Marco slurred at around four in the morning.

"What?"

"His stuff. I'm sure he would've wanted you to have it." Marco said after jumbling the words a few times.

"Hm? You really think?"

"Yeah. He would've wanted to fight with you rather than stay at this soppy place." Marco laughed, and Natsuki smirked as well, threading her new belt around her kimono. She placed her holsters for her revolvers on each side, and tied Kusanagi as well. She put the hat on, but then decided that they didn't match with her kimono, so she went to change her wardrobe slightly, unsealing one of the outfits her grandfather bought her when he was pampering her.

She laughed at the memory, knowing that it was no use trying to force herself to drown in regret. That wasn't something Ace would wish for.

She pulled out a long-ish shirt/short-ish dress that reached her thighs, and tied Ace's belt around her torso. She then got out a pair of long garter socks, with brown boots, and to keep it still look kind of modest, she wore a much longer red jacket . She placed his hat on her head, made a simple clone and smiled.

Marco, now dead tired, fell asleep, as Natsuki magically changed, and morning came. The sun had risen, and she drank a final cup to her brother.

"Rest in peace, Portgas D. Ace. May you be forever known as Fire Fist Ace, the brother of Straw Hat Luffy, Sabo the Revolutionary, and Akagami D. Natsuki, the Striking Vixen, but above all... Let your name be known as the man who burnt the skies with passion." She kissed his grave goodbye, and set her cup on his grave, leaving it empty.

~o0o~

"Long time no see Natsu."

"Long time no see Benn. How've you been. You certainly look older." She snickered, pointing at his grey hair.

"Your father's not good medicine for stress I'm afraid. Now, tell me your adventures!" Benn joked, knowing she didn't need anymore of the 'are you alright?' nonsense.

"I haven't had that many adventures you know... Only one each for every crew I have! I also went back to my last world yesterday!" She smiled, sitting next to her uncle, gazing at the rising sun.

The two pirates talked for another few hours, and gradually, more and more pirates. Her family, came to join her, to listen to her stories. Amongst them were the seasons as well, and Fuyuki was greatly reminded of the time their crew was just the two of them.

"You left me all out on story time?" Came Shanks' yell of disbelief.

"Should've woken up earlier old man!" Natsuki yelled back to her father.

"How come she's talking to captain so casually?" A new recruit of the Red-Haried Pirates asked, and Natsuki turned to her.

"What do you see when it comes to similarity between him and myself!" She asked the woman.

"You've both got red hair, and you've both got the same facial structure. You also laugh in the same way." Came her diligent reply.

"Well observed. What's your name!" She laughed.

"Isabelle."

"Well, Isabelle, your captain is my grandfather you see." Natsuki joked, patting her father's back. "I just came to check whether he was dead or not."

"HEY! I am your father and you know that very well thank you!" Shanks pouted. Isabelle stared at them wide eyed.

"How come I've never heard of this before?"

"Because you were on guard duty yesterday, and didn't hear what the marines were saying, and Shanks used to get depressed every time we mentioned her." Yasopp teased his captain.

"Did you really? Well I missed you too dad!" Natsuki swung her arms around her father and whispered. "Have I lived up to yours and mum's reputation?"

"You've done ten times better than I ever would've expected baby girl." Shanks patted her head, sinking his face into her shoulder as she did the same.

"How's everyone been?" She asked, after walking to her own crew, so that they didn't feel excluded.

"Well! Other than those occasional times when Shanks would drink the place dry and start crying about how he missed his daughter! I think we've been fine!" Lucky Roo laughed, pulling a large chunk of meat off the bone.

"Enough about me whining! Natsuki! Introduce us to your crew!" Shanks swiftly turned the topic off of him, and though Natsuki noticed, she let it go.

"Hell no! Do you know how many of you there are! Why not you introduce yourselves one by one to us!" She waved at her father's crew which consisted of at least fifty pirates.

"Alright. Well, I'm Shanks, but I think you already knew that. I'm your captain's father, and one of the four emperors of the sea." He smiled.

Another hour later of introductions and the Seasons mumbling names under their breath to remember them, it was Natsuki's crew's turn.

"Welp, as you know, I'm Natsuki, and I'm your captain's daughter. I'm the Striking Vixen, and this is my crew!"

"My name's Kurama Fuyuki. I'm her first mate and who the marines call Jack Frost." Shanks glared at him hard, but he didn't flinch. Shanks let out a satisfied smirk.

"You chose well Natsu. How have you been? Learn any more Haki?" Shanks smirked at his student whom he taught all those years ago.

"Of course. How could I not when I have your daughter as my captain." Fuyu smirked.

"I'm Aki. I'm the Forest Fighter. I specialise in different forms of taijutsu." She informed them shyly, and the men wolf whistled, raising a blush on Autumn's cheeks.

"I'm Haruki! I'm the Ryokuryuu! I can camouflage myself to look invisible, and I don't really specialise in anything, though I can use a sword, gun and haki equally, and pretty well if I may say."

"I'm Kanki, and I am the Drying Desert. As I tell every single person I meet, please don't take off my gloves if you don't want to die very slowly and painfully. I can dry any liquid from anything, so you'll turn into a pile of ashes if I touch you properly with my hands." He warned, and the crew took a gulp of their fear.

"Don't look so scared! Yeesh. Well, my name is Uki, and I'm the Raining Miracle. I can make anything, as long as it's liquid, rain, on what, who, when and where I wish." Uki introduced herself finally, and Natsuki smiled. She was truly content with her family.

There was a distinctive squawk from the News coo, as it flew down to deliver the day's news, together with the new bounty posters.

"The Marines have been working quickly haven't they!" they passed the paper around, catching a few words of some of the articles announcing the death of Whitebeard and Ace, though what infuriated them was what the reporters had the nerve to say.

"

Stupid headlines littered the pages, and the Pirates blanched at the disgusting attitude the Marines decided to take.

"Oi! Natsuki! Your crew and you've all got new bounties!" Jack, another one of Shanks' crew yelled, throwing the pieces of paper to them.

"Oh my god..." Natsuki sighed. She sure has got the attention of the citizens now...

"Yeas!!! I'm not in last place!" Uki exclaimed, and Haruki sank to the ground, growing mould in the corner of Shanks' ship.

"Good luck next time Uki. You still haven't passed my bounty!" Kanki boasted.

"How come yours is so high!" Uki pouted.

"Well, I was being really flashy. Maybe that's it." He admitted.

"Natsu! Next time don't assign me to healing duty! I'll do that at the same time as fighting!"

"Alright alright..."

"What did you get!?" Shanks exclaimed, trying to look over her shoulder to see. She hid it away, but Fuyuki snatched it.

"Oh... Wow." Fuyuki placed his bounty on the floor, and lowly, the rest of the seasons did the same. Finally, He placed down Natsuki's price, and they all gaped at the price.

"We'd be so rich Natsu, if we handed you to the marines, got the money, and you broke out of Impel Down, and we keep doing it until the Marines are broke." Haruki said in awe, still looking at her bounty.

"I'd do that, if it weren't for the risk of Ojii-chan getting fired." Natsuki smiled, roughing up his hair.

"Do you think you'll become the fourth emperor soon?"

"I don't know Aki, but let's hope so, so that you can each grant your own dreams." Natsuki grinned at the five seasons, and gladly looked at the people around her. All smiles and happiness, when she remembered Luffy.

"I am such a bad sister..." Natsuki said and disappeared from her father's ship.